"Are you tired of living under the tyranny of benders? Then join the Equalists! For too long, the bending elite of this city have forced non-benders to live as lower class citizens! Join Amon and together we will tear down the bending establishment!" — A protestor addressing a crowd in "Welcome to Republic City".

平 Equalists
General information
Leader(s) Amon
Notable members Amon Lieutenant Doorman Protestor
Headquarters Republic City
Affiliation Non-benders
Purpose Revolt against benders
Chronological information
First appearance "Welcome to Republic City"
Image gallery (18)

The Equalists are an organization, led by Amon, that operates in Republic City. They oppose the use of the art of bending, which they see as inherently oppressive and unfair, and seek to equalize society through its elimination. Because of this are occasionally referred to as the "anti-bending revolution".

Equalist fighters are known for employing chi blocking as a means to counteract bending and its advantages. Adept at using long-range weapons to tie together and hold down their enemies, the Equalists utilize other tools and equipment, including smoke grenades and motorcycles. Less skilled Equalist infiltrators are known to utilize special electrical gloves.^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Goals 3 Trivia 4 References 5 Comments

History Edit

At some point, Amon, led by feelings of revenge after his parents' murder at the hands of a firebender, founded the organization with the objective of creating an equal society with no benders. The anti-bending movement began recruiting adepts and the Equalists eventually became a formidable group within Republic City.

In order to fulfill their goal, the leader, Amon, decided to accelerate the plans after the early arrival of the Avatar to the city,^[2] a reason why an Equalist assembly called The Revelation was scheduled to be carried out. For this purpose, they kidnapped some Triple Threat Triad members and Bolin. Mako and Korra witnessed the Equalist ride away in a truck with their hostages. The duo gave chase on Naga, and the Equalists were forced to evade some firebending and earthbending attacking. Eventually, two Equalists on motorcycles, stayed behind to face their pursuers. With a well-aimed throw, one Equalist fighter tripped the polar bear dog by tying her legs together with a rope. As the animal's riders where thrown free, the two Equalists prepared for a hand-to-hand combat with the two benders. With their superior agility, the two Equalist fighters were able to immobilize Korra and Mako with chi blocking, but they retreated when Naga untangled herself and came to the rescue of her friends.

Later, at the rally, Amon gave a speech telling the audience about his life story and his motivation to lead the revolution. He blamed the benders of the world to be the cause of every war that has ever been, and showcased his plans for all the benders in the world on the prisoners by demonstrating an ability he claimed the spirits had granted him, the ability to take away a person's bending permanently. Unknown to the attendees at the time, however, Korra and Mako had infiltrated the rally, and just before Amon could remove Bolin's bending, Korra released vast amounts of steam from the water boilers, creating enough of a distraction and cover for Mako to overpower an Equalist fighter, grab Bolin and get out before anyone could react.

Amon's second-in-command, the Lieutenant, defeated the two brothers rather easily with his electrified kali sticks while they were trying to escape, however, Korra arrived and earthbent him into a wall, before he could do more damage. As the trio escaped on Naga, the Equalists wanted to give chase, but Amon gave the order to let them go, stating that the Avatar was the best person to spread word of his power.^[3]

The Equalists and their leader had made a profound impression on the Avatar, as Korra had nightmares about being attacked by them after witnessing their skill at the rally. When Korra later aided a special task force led by Councilmen Tarrlok to raid a secret underground training facility in the Dragon Flats district, an Equalist ambushed her when she was inpursuit of two trainees. However, Korra managed to evade his attack and immobilize him by bending a rock straight into his stomach. A second Equalist member was frozen to the wall when Tarrlok came to Korra's rescue. The raid resulted in the defeat and capture of four Equalist members.^[4]

At the ensuing press conference, Korra challenged Amon to a duel on Aang Memorial Island at midnight, without the presence of the task force or the chi blockers. However, Amon didn't held up on his end of the deal, and as Korra was heading home, believing he didn't turn up, several Equalists had ambushed her and soon they quickly overpowered and immobilized her. It was only then that Amon emerged from the shadows and explained part of his plan to eradicate all benders. Knocking Korra out cold, but without doing further damage, the Equalists left her in the island's museum.^[4]

Amon later demanded the shutdown of the Pro-bending Arena before the sport's championship match, but the United Republic Council did not agree to this. As a result, the Equalists disguised themselves in the arena and waited for their moment. After the match, they sprang into action, electrifying several members of the Metalbending Police Force who were present on security detail, Tenzin, Lin Beifong, and the Fire Ferrets. They then dodged attacks from the Wolfbats and Amon took their bending away. The Equalists then kept the arena secured as Amon gave another warning speech.

As they tried to escape, Korra came after them, intent on fighting Amon. Lin also followed to keep Korra safe. The fight took place on the arena's roof, where the two fought several Equalists. Korra knocked the Lieutenant off the roof, but Amon and the remainder of his cronies escaped.^[5]

Goals Edit

The Equalists follow the teachings of Amon, who began spreading his ideas after allegedly receiving a vision from the spirits that the Avatar had failed humanity in its duty to bring balance to the world. The main cause of this imbalance is bending, which is used to bully and oppress the world's non-benders and which has been the cause of "every war". The only way to bring equality back to the world is to remove the abilities of the world's benders, who exploit and marginalize the non-bending majority, and then overthrow the "bending elite" in a wide-ranging social revolution. Accordingly, the spirits granted Amon the ability to permanently remove a person's bending powers.^[3] Through eliminating people's bending ability, their aim is to create a society free from bender/non-bender divisions, where no person has an innate advantage over another. Although Amon's final goal remains unclear, he has expressed an eventual plan to export the Equalist revolution beyond the borders of Republic City to the wider world. Assisting Amon in his quest are a multitude of Equalist fighters, including sleeper agents disguised as ordinary civilians and highly-trained chi blockers. Amon himself seems to have a deep disdain for bending, as he has referred to it as an "impurity" that must be cleansed.^[5]

Trivia Edit

• The equalist's symbol seems to be a large red circle inscribed with the Chinese character 平, meaning "equal" or "peace". This symbol is seen on many Equalist banners throughout the episode.
• The Equalists were originally named the 'anti-benders', until the name change was announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2011.

References Edit